NEUFANG

Thanks to Reimund Benoist of Dörrenbach, and his Familienchronik für Dörrenbach, Werschweiler und Wetschhausen 1672-2002
See: Walter Petto, "Neufang in Steinbach und in aller Welt" in Saarländische Familienkunde, 2003
and: Berthold Neufang, "Familie Neufang - unsere Vorfahren" . and: Becky Nifong Lassiter Nifong and Knifong Descendants 1998

Hans Neufang (c.1567- c.1610) born at Dürnegg ob Batsburg (barren area above Batzburg), in the Gastein Valley of what is now Austria, about 40 miles south of Salzburg. He was a farmer and miller, the first known Neufang. His descendants married into the Eber family in Luggau, and are called the "Luggauer" line. Hans' kinsman Georg Neufang (1580-1611) lived further down the valley at the foot Neufangwand mountain, and are called the "Unterberg" line. Hans had three known sons:

1. Hans Neufang (b.1592-c.1642) married Katherine Eber from Luggauer
2. Veit Neufang (c.1601-c.1653) married Eva Kornbacher from Gut Prembstall
3. Georg Neufang (c.1608-c.1620) married Anna Texer from Luggauer
4. Christina Neufang (died 1645) married __ Nagelhaus of Hofgastein
5. Maria Neufang (died 1645)
6. Eva Neufang (died 1636)

Veit Neufang (pronounced "fite") born between 1595 and 1605, died as late as 1653; married before 1634 Eva Kornbacher from Gut Prembstall. Veit was most likely the father of:

1. Ruprecht Neufang (1634 - 21 Feb 1683)
2. Ursula Neufang (1645-1665)

The Gastein Valley was in the ecclesiastical principality controlled by the Archbishop of Salzburg, bordered on the west by Bavaria and on the east by the Hapsburg Empire. The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 created a temporary lull in the turmoil of the Catholic-Protestant wars, and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1575) was relatively tolerant of Protestants. His successors varied in their loyalties, resulting eventually in the Thirty Years War 1618-1648, which devastated central Europe, destroying the land and up to 50% of rural populations. It is not known what part the Neufangs played in this conflict, since they were early supporters of the Reformation living in the Catholic Principality of Salzburg. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 established a local religion based upon the status of the rulers of an area in 1624. The Archbishop then set about to "cleanse" his territory of dissenters. Ruprecht heard of the areas of Alsace-Lorraine and Saarland, officially awarded to Catholic France, but having a century-old tradition of religious tolerance. We do not know whether he immigrated upon his father's death, or in whose company, but he settled in Steinbach, District of Ottweiler, in the Principality of Saarbrücken. Because Steinbach had not yet rebuilt their church after the war, they worshipped in the Evangelische Kirche (Lutheran Church) in Ottweiler.

Ruprecht Neufang (1634 - 21 Feb 1683) Moved from Gastein near Salzburg to Steinbach, Ottweiler, Saarbrücken. Married about 1652 Agnes Sarah Unverhofft (d.11 Sep 1701) [Petto shows her name as probably Agnes Schifler, daughter of Hans Jakob Schifler.] They had 4 known children:

1. Hans Michael Neufang (9 Jan 1653) probably died young.
2. Johann Magnus Neufang (24 Sep 1655 - 12 Feb 1730) married 21 Nov 1678 Barbara Müller (1658
. . .- 9 Jul 1729) widow of Nickel Tobä, and daughter of master carpenter Heinrich Müller and Anna
. . .Christina Köhl of Blumenthal, the Netherlands.  Magnus (called Menge) was a farmer in Steinbach.
3. Engell (Angelika) Neufang (31 Mar 1658) married 20 Oct 1678 Johann Heinrich Junckhans
4. Maria Elisabeth Neufang (6 Sep 1661 - 7 Jan 1726) married 1683 Johann Wendel Müller, no
. . .known relation to the Barbara Müller her brother married.

Maria Elizabeth Neufang (6 Sep 1661 - 7 Jan 1726) married about 1683 Johann Wendel Müller (1658 - 7 Apr 1707) The Dörrenbach Churchbook shows her name as "Maria Liß Menge" confusing her brother Magnus' nickname for her last name.

Anna Eva Müller (1684-1736) m.1702 Hans Wilhelm Fuchs

Mark Fox (c1761-1787) m. 5 June 1785 Ann Baughman

Catherine Fox (1786-1877) married about 1803 Jesse Shields

Anna Shields (1806-1895) m.1829 Cary Burford

Isabel Catherine Burford (1831-1912) m.1851 James F Highfill

Martha Highfill (1853-1922) m.1875 Ephraim Stonecypher

Bertha Helen Stonecypher (1876-1950) m.1904 John Liptrap

Virgil Raymond Liptrap (1907-1977) m.1949 Frances Mary Tate Matthews

James Matthews Liptrap (1951)